German companies named in dossier

The Iraqi dossier contains some 12,000 pages

By Katya Adler BBC Berlin correspondent

Over 80 German companies are listed in Iraq's weapons report to the United Nations, according to a German newspaper.

The US accused Ukraine of selling Iraq its advanced radars

The Tageszeitung says several of the companies were still involved in Iraq last year, thereby breaking the UN weapons embargo against Baghdad.

This is the first leak from what is currently one of the most sought after documents in the world - the Iraqi weapons dossier.

And it is exceedingly embarrassing for Germany, which becomes a temporary member of the UN Security Council in a few weeks time.

Relations strained

According to theTageszeitung, which has obtained a copy of the report, the German companies have contributed to the Iraqi Government's weapons programme since the mid-1970s.

The dossier also contains details of Iraq's chemical weapons programme

Now it is common knowledge that companies all over the world have helped Iraq obtain basic weapons, and the technical know-how to develop weapons of mass destruction - in the past.

But according to the newspaper, some German companies continued to do business with Iraq right up until last year.

This is a clear breach of the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990 after it invaded Kuwait.

Of further embarrassment to Germany is that - according to the newspaper article - German companies make up more than half of the total number of institutions listed in the Iraqi weapons report.

Relations between Germany and Washington are already strained because of Germany's outspoken criticism of a possible military strike against Iraq.

This naming and shaming of the German companies could make matters a lot worse.